2014: Winter Olympics Bidder Faces Environmental Opposition

[Fiona]

Greenpeace, the environmental organisation, has filed a lawsuit in Russia’s supreme court in an attempt to halt redevelopment around Sochi, one of the three cities bidding to host the 2014 winter Olympics.

Mikhail Kreindlin, of Greenpeace’s Moscow office, said action was necessary to block the construction of Olympic venues because it contravenes Russia’s environmental protection legislation.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant suggested yesterday that Greenpeace’s action could have been initiated by one of Sochi's rivals for the Olympics, Salzburg in Austria and PyeongChang in South Korea, but the Russian bid team has moved quickly to distance itself from those claims.

Sochi 2014 said today that it believes that all competitors are behaving honourably and respecting fair play.

Greenpeace claims the construction of sporting facilities and infrastructure ‘will take place inside a national park and on the border of a nature reserve.’

However, this is denied by Dmitry Chernyshenko, the head of the Sochi bid, who said that no venues are planned in protected zones.

He added: ‘All the construction plans were co-ordinated with environmental protection organisations and will not cause any damage to the region’s nature.‘

The Sochi bid committee accepts that environmental concerns need to be considered, and said it was ‘taking comments from the various stakeholders very seriously.’

It added: ‘A meeting is being scheduled for later this month with the principal environmental groups so that we can find a solution that is acceptable to all parties.’

The bid team has expressed its surprise at the lawsuit, but maintains it is 'open to discussion' on environmental matters and held talks with leading environmental groups, though not Greenpeace, during the planning process.

The Russian government has pledged $12 billion towards hosting the games, including $100 million set aside for environmental protection measures, and will spend $7.5 billion on Sochi even if the bid is unsuccessful.

The three candidate cities for the 2014 Olympics are due to submit their candidature files to the International Olympic Committee by January 10.

The IOC’s evaluation commission is to visit the cities in February and March and a report based on their findings will be published in June.

The host city for the 2014 winter Olympic Games will be decided by a vote at the IOC session in Guatemala City on July 7, 2007.

Sportcal.com